Believing Dr Fauci is my litmus test.

[milestogo]

He is not God. He is capable of making mistakes. He cannot predict the future.

But he is absolutely the most experienced, intelligent physician-scientist on the planet when it comes to epidemiology. If someone thinks they know better, I'd like to see them compare their credentials to his.

I've never seen a "messenger" attacked so viciously for delivering the truth.

If somebody attacks Fauci, they are attacking science and reason. They are out of touch with reality. And they are dangerous.

[Wounded Bear]

1. Yeah, pretty easy litmus test of whether or not I want to continue conversation...

When someone starts attacking him, I start assuming they are a Fox infected asshole.

[JohnSJ]

2. and RFK Jr is one of those leading the attack against Dr. Fauci

[milestogo]

3. Yup

All kinds of irrationality out there.

[BlueMTexpat]

37. His father must be

turning over in his grave.

[Ocelot II]

4. RFK Jr. is a crackpot, has been for a long time.

He's one of the nutbags who've been claiming for years, notwithstanding proof to the contrary, that vaccines cause autism.

[wnylib]

52. I recently heard RFK Jr as

a guest of George Noory on the overnight RW extremist radio program, Coast to Coast.

RFK JR is younger than I am, but sounded like he was close to 90. His voice was shaky and faint. I missed most of what he said because it was hard to hear or understand him. Does he have a disorder like Parkinson's or something similar? I did hear enough to know that he is completely off the rails mentally, like most of Noory's guests.

[Ocelot II]

54. He has a condition called spasmodic dysphonia.

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/spasmodic-dysphonia#:~:text=Spasmodic%20dysphonia%20is%20a%20voice,able%20to%20talk%20at%20all.

[wnylib]

56. How sad for him to have that disorder,

but he is still a conspiracy theorist spreading disinformation.

[leftstreet]

5. Biden should have replaced him though

...as his POTUS adviser

He's great, but he became such a lightning rod that his statements are processed as politics, not as his experience and expertise

[True Dough]

8. I don't think it would have helped

Finding someone as experienced as Fauci isn't easy and then the individual would have to want the job. It comes with a lot of pressure, obviously.

And you can be sure that the right would have attacked any doctor that Biden appointed. Heck, Merrick Garland was considered as close to neutral as a judicial appointment as either side could have found, and look at the constant flack he takes from the right as AG.

[leftstreet]

10. Oh you're not wrong

I just think a fresh "public" face, untainted by Trump's admin, would have been a better play

[Blues Heron]

11. it's not a dating game

this is real life and death stuff. We want the best people and that includes Fauci. why do what the RWNJs want and get rid of him?

[TheRealNorth]

14. Exactly

Anyone Biden appointee would be guilty of the Democratic, liberal, communist, socialist, Jewish conspiracy to rob you of your precious bodily fluids.

[Demsrule86]

13. You can't cave into the right...they move onto anyone we pick...it wouldn't matter and the

caving is what they want.

[leftstreet]

15. Keeping Fauci was "caving" to the right

It gave them fuel for the continued Us vs Them politics, over science and information

But everyone likes their distraction politics I suppose

[JI7]

65. Nope, don't blame Fauci and Biden for the fucked up behavior of right wingers

[Mr.Bill]

16. The president doesn't have the authority to fire him.

If he did, Trump would have fired him when the virus was discovered and replaced him with some nut job like the guy DeSantis appointed surgeon general of Florida.

[leftstreet]

21. Then he should have appointed a Pandemic Czar

Politicians do things like that to give their administrations "fresh starts"

[Mr.Bill]

24. The republicans would have attacked whoever Biden appointed.

No one on the planet could match Fauci's resume as far as pandemics go. I don't give a shit what the republicans think, and fortunately, neither does Biden.

[leftstreet]

46. True. So why give them one with baggage? n/t

[Mr.Bill]

48. You mean like the baggage

of being the foremost pandemic expert on the planet? His only baggage is the bullshit coming from the republicans, and they would do that to anybody who didn't support their crackpot theories.

[babylonsister]

66. Exactly. He is the one qualified enough to be there, and he's

tough, so far. I hope he doesn't get worn down by the rwnjs.

[Tommymac]

78. The only baggage Dr. Fauci has is his black medical bag.

Not sure why you are calling for the best person for the job to be pushed aside.

Fuck what the QOP thinks or feels. Fuck them Fuck them Fuck them.

The M$M gives that MINORITY party too much play. I for one am not going to amplify that fucking noise.

Dr. Fauci is the best person for the job. Period. I applaud President Joe for keeping him in the limelight.

[Sgent]

34. Not as head of

NIH Infectious Disease, but they could appoint someone else to the advisory committee. The one (semi-valid) complaint that I've heard about him is that as head of that section of the NIH, other infectious disease doctors may be hesitant to speak against him since he has a significant influence on NIH grant funding in their field.

That said he usually doesn't decide specific grants but allocations to specific areas, the grants are ranked by a blinded advisory committee.

[HariSeldon]

26. I disagree

Biden should talk up the fact that Bush gave Dr. Fauci a Presidential Medal of Freedom, though. That is an untapped vein.

[leftstreet]

45. You make my point for me

It's about the pandemic, not the people advising us

[JI7]

61. Why do things based on what ignorant people want ? How is he a lightning rod ?

becsuse ignorant people that want to pretend to believe in fucked up conspiracies hate him ?

[leftstreet]

62. Because Covid should be the news, not Fauci n/t

[JI7]

63. Covid IS the news. It's ignorant people that make Fauci and others the news

for telling the truth.

[live love laugh]

70. When did Covid stop being the news?

[sop]

6. Attacks on Fauci have gone far beyond the right's usual Ad Hominem rhetorical strategies,

where they savage the character, motive, or some other attribute of the person making an argument rather than attacking the substance of the argument itself. You're right, these dangerous idiots are attacking reason, science and the truth.

[littlemissmartypants]

7. I love him. ❤

[live love laugh]

71. +1 So do millions more including me.

[bluestarone]

9. We are in a whole new world with these type of attacks.

This man and his family are going through HELL, just for trying to save lives!! MONSTERS on the right will someday succeed in their attacks, i fear. There are too many that want to hurt or kill this great man! HE and his family need to be protected at ALL COSTS!!

[live love laugh]

74. Yes AND it's a whole new disease rife with unknowns.

I can’t believe the level of idiocy that leads people to attack Fauci for being “wrong” when nobody knew what’s even now still being discovered and disclosed about COVID.

[TheRealNorth]

12. They hate Fauci because he would not kowtow to everything TFG wanted him to say

[AngryOldDem]

36. And by doing so, the TFG gave the signal it was okay to attack him.

[Bleacher Creature]

18. He's about to turn 81 and has been at the NIH for 53 years.

He could have left anytime to cash in by going to the private sector, but didn't because he knew that he could do more with the government. He's been lauded by Democratic and Republican presidents, and was even given a shout out by George H.W. Bush in his 1988 debate with Dukakis. W awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The man is one of the greatest living American heroes, and the idea that Republicans would demonize him for having the temerity to stand up to the guy who made the pandemic infinitely worse is just plain sick.

I'm right there with you.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

22. He has generated some cash, but not like the antivax or Qs say.

They, like RFKJr in his new book, claim he is a secret member of vast enterprises that are engineering viruses for population control and huge "depopulation" projects which are all somehow of benefit to the ever handy "global elites".

A net worth of $2.5 million is not out of line for an intelligent highly-educated person who has been working for more than 50 years.

How Dr. Fauci Achieved a Net Worth of $2.5 Million - Money Inc

Fauci Awarded $1 Million Israeli Prize For 'Speaking Truth To ...
https: //www.npr.org › sections › 2021/02/15 › fauci-awar...
Feb 15, 2021 — The prize committee said Dr. Anthony Fauci, long-time head of the United States' leading infectious diseases research institute, ...

Does Anthony Fauci have millions invested in a coronavirus ...
https: //www.statesman.com › news › fact-check-does-an...
Apr 15, 2020 — This piece was originally published on PolitiFact.com on April 15, 2020. The country's top infectious disease expert is discouraging the use ...

Fauci isn't making millions from National Geographic book
https: //www.usatoday.com › factcheck › 2021/06/13 › f...
Claim: Dr. Anthony Fauci will make millions from an upcoming book about public service
Claimed by: Charlie Kirk, social media users
Fact check by USA Today: False

[pnwmom]

27. I bet most physicians his age have a higher net worth. n/t

[Bernardo de La Paz]

30. Approximately. Very good bet.

Via "whitecoatinvestor.com", Physician's Net Worth

The 70+ looks like a bell curve with a probable mode point a bit less than half of $1-5M, midpoint being $3M, maybe a median about $2.5 million. Guessing.

[Mr.Bill]

49. I could point out places in Silicon Valley

where your net worth could be 2.5 million if you bought a 30K house 50 years ago.

[garybeck]

68. he did not handle the AIDS crisis well at all. n/t

[Bernardo de La Paz]

19. Follow up an anti-vax post quoting some study and you'll see they make fundamental errors

They take a statistic and make a wild interpretation from it that seems plausible to someone who doesn't know simple features of sets and basic statistics. Usually it is taking a stat that applies to one group and assuming it applies to a subset or superset or other set.

[IronLionZion]

20. Experience and education is no match for memes and Youtube

the "do your own research" crowd always knows better.

[totodeinhere]

23. Fauci should be advocating a travel ban from South Africa.

There is no time to waste. This new variant is very scary and it might be able to evade immunity from the vaccines. We need to nip this in the bud before it is too late.

[herding cats]

25. The US just restricted travel to 8 African countries.

They're on it.

[milestogo]

29. Are they restricting travel FROM those countries?

South Africa is a major business hub with a couple of international airports.

[herding cats]

31. Yes, that's what I intended to say.

My apologies for the error.

[totodeinhere]

33. Thanks. That is good news. n/t

[NickB79]

41. It's already been found in Hong Kong, Israel and Belgium

The Belgian case was in a person who had traveled to Egypt and Turkey, not South Africa.

It's almost certainly gone global by now.

[helpisontheway]

28. I'm reluctant to trust him and the CDC now...

They did not push boosters when other countries started doing that. Even now the messaging around the boosters is confusing. They should tell everyone to get the booster. I have so many friends and family members that are fully vaxxed but do not plan to get the booster. They see it as optional. Now they are dragging their feet about banning flights from an area with a dangerous variant. Why not at least try to delay or prevent that variant from spreading here?

[milestogo]

40. There is no foot dragging.

And more shots is not necessarily better. But then, I'm not a physician or scientist. Are you?

[totodeinhere]

53. It appeared earlier that they were going to wait on a travel ban from South Africa.

Fauci said this morning that they would wait on the science before taking action. (I am paraphrasing.) But for whatever reason they went forward with restrictions but not a total ban. But that is not good enough in my opinion. All travel from South Africa should be banned including travel from citizens and legal residents. None of this quarantine crap. I don't trust everybody to quarantine as they should. This new variant needs to be stopped and stopped now.

[milestogo]

57. This only appeared in the news 2 days ago.

They are calling it the South African variant, but it actually was first found in Francistown, Botswana. A lot of African countries have low vaccination rates because they don't manufacture it and wealthier countries have not been quick to share it.

If we're going to be safe the whole world has to be vaccinated. Otherwise the virus has plenty of opportunity to mutate. This could happen again and again.

The scientific testing which finds that a mutation has occurred, is not going to occur as frequently or early in some parts of the world as it does in the US. So- mutants can arise anywhere that there is poverty.

[totodeinhere]

60. Of course the whole world should be vaccinated.

But that will take time so in the meantime we need a total travel ban.

[DENVERPOPS]

76. Excellent points........

Didn't we experience relaxed enforcement and delayed dates of implementation when 30-40K people came into the U.S. from China at the onset before travel was restricted......

[garybeck]

32. disagree. he's made a lot of mistakes, going all the way back to the AIDS crisis.

listen to this Radiolab podcast and then tell me he's your litmus test.
https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/ashes-lawn

[Raine]

43. Exactly! nt

[Laura PourMeADrink]

51. Why was he kept on I wonder.

[AngryOldDem]

35. Mine too.

Whenever news or speculation comes out, I always look for his opinion.

Trump is solely to blame for the attacks on Dr. Fauci and his expertise and experience.

If only we could eradicate Trumpitis from this planet.

Not often I use this word, but we are blessed to have a true man of science like Anthony Fauci during this time.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

38. The truth? I would see him as one step behind. It's like

the well-informed general public with research and personal experience and intuition and common sense
have far surpassed any government covid spokesperson.

Just my two cents, not trying to start a fight or anything . Personally I've never heard Fauci give an answer that didn't sound more political than medical. Nature of the job.

[Raine]

42. That's the way I feel too

I can't forget his ”advice" on masks, he goes back and forth on most everything.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

47. Yes, strikes me as a man torn between his expertise

in Epidemiology and his involvement for so many years in the presidential decisioning process.

And as you mention, masks - early on, it was confusing - why is the government telling us this? Our good sense told us that if medical workers had to wear masks, then the average citizen did as well. People were and still are seeking honest truth. At that time it would have been much better to say "everyone needs a mask but we don't have enough right now. So please fashion your own to provide yourself with at least a little bit of projection."

[hamsterjill]

44. Totally agree.

I’m sure his interest and commitment are genuine, but the lax action several times, including action today as to the new variant, has made me less interested in what any government authority says.

We need to continue the research and development and not stop with Pfizer, Moderna and J&J. Yes, there are other measures being developed but let’s get that done and on the table. We are still at war with a virus.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

50. Agree. I think what you're saying is true that he has

genuine interest and commitment. But I think he may have long ago accepted his role as a pure advisor and not an implementer. And he seems fine with that. It would be interesting to imagine what he would have done if he instead of Birx had been in that presser when FG talked about injecting bleach.

But that was a long time ago. And as they say what are you doing for me now? Some European countries have banned travel from South Africa. That's a serious move. Why can't we ever get ahead of this? And I think that's a perfectly fine question for a US citizen to ask.

[fescuerescue]

39. Best doctor on the planet

exactly.

[Ms. Toad]

55. Depending on your definition of attacking Fauci,

a person is not attacking science and reason.

While he has ultimately gotten to the right place as to COVID, he has been wrong and/or considerably behind the science several times.

What I heard earlier from him today seem mostly spot-on. But ultimately I place my faith in science and reason, not a single fallible human being.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

59. What did he say this morning? If you don't mind giving it to me in a nutshell

Because Biden came out and he said he was going to ban travel right?

[Ms. Toad]

67. New variant in South Africa.

More than 30 variations on the spike proteins - which is what the current vaccines target. Too much change might mean vaccines are less effective. It also looks like it might be more infectious. It is more widespread than it appeared to be two days ago.

Not likely in US (but anything is possible). Virus travels with people - so far known to have traveled to Botswana & Hong Kong

We are talking scientists to scientists with South African colleagues.

We need to take the virus to the lab to test the antibodies - once we test it we can predict that it might - or will - evade immune response. There are red flags - we are in the process of finding out.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

75. That's what Fauci said?

[Raine]

64. Agree, I don't see as asking questions is attacking science, reason or even Fauci.

I'm not just going to go along with anything and everything no matter what it who is promoting it.

[live love laugh]

72. The OP didn't say he ONLY relies on Fauci.

I place my faith in science and reason, not a single fallible human being.

[Ms. Toad]

73. No -

No -

But the OP did say:

Believing Dr Fauci is my litmus test.

. . .

If somebody attacks Fauci, they are attacking science and reason.

I am distinguishing between believing a person and believing science.

[traitorsgalore]

58. Rec'd, especially as it's brought out all the anti-science people

Love the ignore list feature here.

[cadoman]

69. Mask/Vaxx/Booster/Fauci -- all four required

Usually if someone passes the first they were smart enough to pass the other three.

[SYFROYH]

77. Except for his statements on the efficacy of masks in March 2020, Fauci has been very good.

[milestogo]

80. As I said, He is not God. He is capable of making mistakes. He cannot predict the future.

[Baitball Blogger]

79. The other litmus test is if they think Obama was

Born in Kenya.